STP: Fossil’s secret, little weapon

Fossil’s line of men’s automatic watches raised as many questions as eyebrows from the watch-loving community almost a half a decade back. For a company making quartz watches their bread and butter, many felt apprehensive if their automatic movements came from China. At prices well below the $500 mark, it’s pretty normal to feel if you are getting something that’s reliable and of value, albeit they exhibited impressive finishes, heft and proportions.

The Fossil automatics, no doubt, are refined elements and unless bigotry has taken the best of you, there’s no denial to the fact. They used (and still do) the STP movements, which is an acronym for Swiss Technology Production. Fossil trumped the affordable mechanical watch market game with the STP movements but it’s not just they are used by Fossil only. STP, so far, has fared extremely well as stock movements for a host of third-party manufacturers.

STP followed the ways of ETA and Sellita but over time, became a major contender for ETA, whom it replaced from many a watches. This is due to the fact that the STP1-11 automatic mechanical movement fitted anywhere an ETA 2824-2 or the Sellita SW200 would.

So, is the STP-11 just another 2824 clone? Not quite, but even if it had been, it would be no less noteworthy. It ensures both efficiency and quality, adhering not just to the current standards but also the more rigorous ones starting from 2017, both for the assembly and production of the components.

The movement under discussion measures 25.94mm across and operates at 4Hz. It can store power for 44 hours and has perlage polishing to it. In terms of customization, the STP1-11 allows as much possible and the same can be seen in the following upgrades – the STP3-13 and STP5-15, specifically designed for the open-heart types. For the fully skeletonized watches, it is the STP6-15 that was introduced while additional functionalities came with STP2-12-1, -12-3 and the -12-6, the last one fitted with a power reserve indicator and multiple calendar information.

But what about the women’s watches from the Swiss Fossil range? There you have the STP8-14-11 (time and date) and the STP8-14-21 (time only). These two are 17.48mm wide across.

STP movements are made inside a fully automated assembly line utilizing robotics for the assembly. Only tasks that machines are not ideal for use human interference, which are typically not the processes requiring high-precision and repetitive tasks. It helps to keep the prices down while offering higher levels of precision than fully hand-made movements that are also extremely rare.

So, to conclude; STP as a part of the portfolio, the Swiss Fossil watches remain attractively priced while maintaining a very high-quality. We are soon to receive them, so this bit of info is going to help you to spend your money well.